ENT09 The Smallest Alien
by A Rhea King
Summary: The Enterprise crew discovers a strange device that every race claims is their religious relic. Archer becomes curious about it and doesn't want to give it up to anyone. So when it comes down to saving his crew and relinquishing it, he is torn.
1. Chapter 1

THE SMALLEST ALIENS

A. Rhea King

**CHAPTER 1**

Archer jerked awake when he became aware of a beeping. Travis was the only person on the bridge and he hadn't noticed he'd fallen asleep. Archer sat the PADD in his hand aside, trying to discern where the beeping was coming from. He walked over to the T'Pol's station, looking at each monitor until he found the culprit. Archer pulled a chair up to the console and tried to figure out how to make the offending system stop beeping. He suddenly became aware of someone standing behind him and turned. T'Pol was watching him with an eyebrow cocked up.

"A console is beeping," Archer explained.

T'Pol pulled her arms behind her back. "Captain, I calibrated my equipment two days ago. I would appreciate not having to do it again."

Archer moved out of her way, returning to the captain's chair and the letter he'd been reading.

"We're picking up a signal, Captain," Hoshi informed him.

He looked up and stared at Hoshi. '_When did she come onto the bridge?_'

"It's... Three recurring tones and it's very weak," Hoshi continued.

"Telemetry indicates that it's three quarters of a light year from our current position," T'Pol said. "I'm already losing the signal.

"Travis, retrace our route at quarter impulse," Archer ordered.

Travis turned _Enterprise_.

"Full halt, Mister Mayweather," T'Pol ordered. "Take a heading of twelve point three. Stay at quarter impulse."

Travis made the course adjustment. T'Pol brought up her viewer.

"Full halt," she ordered.

Several minutes passed.

"I have the coordinates, but it appears to have changed course. Ensign Mayweather, adjust your heading twenty meters to port," T'Pol instructed him.

An image appeared on the screen. It showed an almost indiscernible faint blue glow against the black background. The glow was so indiscernible that as it moved, it disappeared in the light of even the faintest stars. The magnification was changed six times before Archer could see it was a silver sphere.

"Any bio-signs?" Archer asked her.

"Not unless they're microbe in size, Captain. The object is traveling at warp one."

Archer looked at her. "It's that small?"

"Yes."

"Follow it, Travis."

"Follow it...sir?" Travis looked back at Archer. "This is going to be like trying to track a basketball in the middle of the Atlantic from space!"

"Do your best, Travis."

"Call me the Chaser, sir!" Travis replied with a frown.

"The Chaser?"

"You haven't heard of a Chaser?"

"Can't say that I have."

"I'll loan you the books sometime."

Archer smiled, nodding. "In the mean time, follow it, Chaser."

After another six minutes, Travis reported, "We're within two hundred kilometers, sir. Doesn't have much of a warp signature."

"Captain, the object's warp field appears to be unstable and is preventing me from scanning it," T'Pol told Archer. "I cannot confirm that without Commander Tucker looking at these readings."

The lift opened and Trip walked onto the bridge, staring at the view screen.

"Speak of the devil," Archer joked.

"What the heck is that?" Trip asked.

"We're not sure yet. T'Pol needs you to look at some readings."

Trip walked over to her station and leaned on the controls next to her. He let out a long whistle.

"This thing's not much bigger than a basketball and it's traveling at warp one? That warp drive can't be much bigger than a grape! It looks like the warp field is going to destabilize in a month or two, if these readings are right."

"The signal's changed," Hoshi said.

Archer walked over to her station. "To what?"

"A different pattern with longer pulses."

"Why don't I get it out of warp and we bring that thing on board? See what it is," Trip suggested.

"You want to bring it on board?" Malcolm asked.

Archer turned, staring at Malcolm. '_Where did he come from?_'

"Trip, just get it out of warp, for Travis' sake." Archer smiled when Travis chuckled. "And then let's see if we can get a scan of it. After that I'll decide what we're going to do."

"Send this information to the situation console," Trip told T'Pol. He stood and walked to the back.

Archer sat back down, deciding he was in for a long wait.

'_Caaaaptain_,' a man's voice whispered.

Archer sat up, looking back at Trip. He was engrossed in the readings. Archer turned back to the view screen.

#

Archer wiped his mouth and sat his napkin on the empty plate on his desk. He reached out to tap a terminal key and froze. The hairs on the back of his neck lifted in response to a feeling of anxiety and being watched. Archer turned, staring out the viewport.

'_Captain Archer_,' a female voice whispered.

His heart skipped a beat when the doorbell beeped.

"Come in," Archer said, quickly recollecting himself.

Trip stepped in, grinning. "The warp field failed just as I got it out of warp. Guess I was wrong about a few months."

"What have scans revealed?"

"There is an object inside, but we can't get any more readings beyond that."

"Does it look like a weapon?"

"Malcolm said yes, but then again, Malcolm always says yes. T'Pol's chompin' at the bit to study it. We could take a shuttle pod out and pull it in. Then we'd only be risking two people's lives instead of eighty."

"No. We'll bring it into a loading bay." Archer stood.

"Are you sure you want to risk the entire crew?" Trip asked.

"We can release it into space if anything goes wrong."

"And the people in there with it if something does?"

Archer held Trip's gaze. He made really good arguments. The feeling of being watched washed over Archer again.

'_Captain Archer_!' the man's voice whispered.

He turned, looking around him.

"Something wrong?" Trip asked.

"No," Archer turned back to Trip. "We'll take the risk."

Archer followed Trip out of his quarters onto the bridge. The view screen was magnified so that the sphere took up the entire screen. The opening the blue glow had emitted from was now dark and he could see heat scoring around the edges. Across the ball indented lines laced patterns, reminding Archer of a circuit board. Archer stood behind Travis, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are those indentations markings or part of its construction?" Archer asked.

"There are many questions that have no answers about this device," T'Pol told Archer. "It has stopped emitting a signal."

Archer looked to Malcolm. "Malcolm, is there anything showing it's a weapon?"

"Not yet, sir."

'_Jonathan_,' the man's voice sung.

Archer's stomach tightened into a knot, but he resisted looking around him. "Let's try our luck. Can you grapple onto it, Travis?"

Travis moved to the grapple controls and released one. The grapple flew into view and for a moment looked like it was going to miss the device completely. It attached to the device at the last moment and Travis reeled it in.

"Pull it into loading bay two. You have the bridge, Malcolm."

"Aye, sir," Malcolm replied.

Trip, T'Pol, and Archer left the bridge together.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Archer sat on the stairs, staring at the metallic sphere. They had sat it on a stand that he was sure was meant for something else and after nine hours they still didn't know anything about it.

"Computer, time," Archer said.

"The time is twenty-three and forty-two hundred hours," the computer replied.

Archer looked up. "Let's call it a night, folks. It's not going anywhere and we've been at this all day."

Archer walked up to the device. He yawned again, closing his eyes when they watered.

'_Captain, can you hear me_?' the woman's voice whispered.

The silence that followed made Archer's skin tingle. He looked at the object. An opening had appeared along the seam of one of the indentations.

"It opened when you exhaled on it," T'Pol told Archer as she approached.

Archer stepped back, letting her scan the object.

"I'm still not getting any readings from the object." T'Pol looked back at Archer.

"Open it. Let's see what's in there."

T'Pol sat her scanner down and reached out to pick it up. Electricity leapt from the edges of the opening and zapped her hand, making T'Pol jump back.

"Are you hurt?" Archer asked.

"No." T'Pol looked at Archer. "It apparently has a defense mechanism."

"You said you didn't get any readings. Where did the power come from?"

"I am uncertain."

Trip reached for it.

"Trip, no!" Archer said, reaching out to stop him.

But Trip had the object in both hands before Archer could touch him, and the object didn't zap Trip. Trip opened it like a cracked egg and pulled out a perfectly smooth, metallic sphere the size of a grapefruit. Trip reached in and picked it up, turning it. Everyone jumped when the casing snapped itself closed and a voice started speaking in an alien language.

"That sounds like a countdown," Trip said.

"Everyone out!" Archer ordered.

Trip dropped the sphere and casing on the floor, following the others out of the loading bay into the hall. Archer slammed his hand on the controls as Trip ran through and locked it. He turned to open the outer loading bay doors when they all heard a pop like a gun going off. Archer stepped back. The three were silent for several minutes.

"What now, Captain?" Trip asked.

"I'll have Malcolm post a security team, we'll get some rest, and see what happened to it in the morning," Archer told them.

"It's not likely we'll get much rest with this thing on board, Cap'n," Trip remarked.

Archer didn't respond to Trip's remark, because he knew it was true.

#

Archer walked into the loading bay and stopped. Trip was sitting on the floor with the sphere in his lap and a scanner in his hand. Judging from Trip's stubble and wrinkled uniform, Archer suspected he hadn't been to his quarters all night.

"I said we'd work on this in the morning," Archer said as he sat down beside him.

Trip smiled. "It's like getting a new toy on Christmas. Me and T'Pol couldn't leave it alone."

"She was up all night too?"

"Yeah."

"Do _either_ of you _ever_ obey my orders?"

Trip grinned. "When we have the inclination."

Archer looked down. Melted metal had solidified on the floor. It had the same smooth appearance as the sphere.

"Was that the casing?" Archer asked.

"Yeah. It was still liquid when I got back. It was strange how long it took to harden."

"So where is T'Pol?" Archer asked.

"She went to get some breakfast and a shower."

"Found anything out about it?"

"Nope. I even tried blowing on it, but that didn't do anything, either."

"Why would you try that?"

"Worked on opening the casing." Trip glanced at the stand. "I collected a sample before the metal hardened and T'Pol examined it. She said the molecular structure isn't like anything she'd seen before. The only element she recognized was titanium, but only traces."

Archer yawned.

"Didn't sleep either, huh?"

"Kept having strange dreams and waking up thinking there was someone standing in my bathroom door.

"What if someone comes looking for this thing?"

"Like who?" Archer asked.

"Someone. Anyone. What would you do?"

"If it's theirs, hand it over."

"But, we've never seen anything like it. How would you know?"

Archer smiled. "You think someone's missing a small round object traveling at warp one?"

Trip shrugged. "Never know."

The door opened and T'Pol entered with a covered plate and mug. She sat them down next to Trip before sitting across from him.

"Good morning, Captain," T'Pol said.

"Morning."

Trip sat the sphere on the floor and T'Pol began scanning it again. He pulled the cover off the plate and laid it upside down next to him. Archer watched condensation pool in the top of the lid.

"Western omelet, huh?" Trip asked.

"You said to get anything," T'Pol told him.

"I did." He picked up the fork sitting on the omelet and began wolfing it down.

"You could chew that, you know," Archer taunted.

Over a mouthful of food, Trip retorted, "No time for modesty."

Archer laughed.

Trip finished and picked up the lid, spraying T'Pol with water. She glanced up at him, but froze when she looked back at the sphere.

"A panel has opened where the water landed on the sphere," T'Pol said.

The men looked down. A new opening revealed two controls and they could see more controls hidden further in the opening. Trip picked up the lid and shook the water on the sphere. Nothing more happened.

"This does not make sense," T'Pol said.

Trip picked up a scanner and held it over the newly exposed controls. "Still not getting any readings. It's like--"

An idea hit Archer. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the loading bay. The two watched him run off.

"It's like the thing's runnin' on ghost juice," Trip finished saying. "Where's he going?"

"I don't know. What is 'ghost juice'?"

"Energy that doesn't exist." Trip returned to scanning the sphere.

T'Pol leaned in closer, careful to keep her distance. Archer jogged back into the room, carrying a Petri dish of dirt and a lighter.

"Warming your dirt before breakfast?" Trip asked.

"I think it's triggered by fundamental elements."

"Like earth, fire, air, water?"

Archer picked up a pinch of dirt and sprinkled it on the sphere. Another section opened. He struck the lighter and held it to the sphere, opening the third panel. The three quickly moved away as the sphere began spinning and rising. It stopped four feet off the ground and hung in the air. T'Pol scanned it.

"Anything?" Archer asked.

"No, Captain."

The device slowed to a stop and hung in the air. The lights in the loading bay went out and beams of light shot from the sphere, bathing the room in pale blue light. Archer glanced back when the door opened. Hoshi walked in, stopping beside Archer.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"We don't know, yet," Archer answered.

Around them the blue lines faded into galaxies with voids of light filling in between them. The only indication they could tell each other was still in the room was by the black voids their bodies made.

"It looks like a star chart," Hoshi commented.

"Is it T'Pol?" Archer asked.

T'Pol didn't reply right away. "There are star systems the scanner has identified from our database."

"So...this is an astronomy device?" Trip asked.

"I don't know." Archer walked over to a point of light. He waved his hand through it.

The sphere emitted a low pitch hum as the blue light reshaped to form a galaxy that filled the entire loading bay.

"This is the Andromeda galaxy," T'Pol told them.

"Captain, look left," Hoshi said

On his left a holographic screen with red lettering and scrolling text appeared. There were holographic buttons along the bottom. The scrolling text disappeared, leaving only one line of text with a blinking cursor at the end. With the change of color in the room, Archer could see the other three better. He walked over to the screen and touched one of the buttons. Writing appeared on the screen and formed into two lists.

"Can you read any of this, Hoshi?" Archer asked.

"Not without some kind of pattern or root."

'_That's a first_,' Archer thought.

T'Pol reached out to touch one of the list items. A bolt of electricity shot from the sphere and hit her between her shoulder blades, throwing her against the wall and knocking her unconscious.

Trip ran over to her, gently shaking her. "T'Pol?"

"Get her to Sickbay," Archer ordered.

"I don't think this thing likes Vulcans," Trip said as he picked her up. "That's the second time it's zapped her." He hurried out of the room.

Archer turned back to the red screen. He walked over to it, watching it rotate with him so it was always in the same position no matter where he moved.

"Doesn't seem to mind humans much," Hoshi said. "Wonder what it thinks about Denobulans."

"Ask Phlox to come down here," he told Hoshi.

"Trip just took T'Pol to--" Hoshi was interrupted when _Enterprise_ rocked.

"CAPTAIN TO THE BRIDGE!" Malcolm yelled over the ship COM.

"Hoshi," Archer said.

The two ran out of the loading bay.

#

Archer and Hoshi ran off the lift together, Hoshi running to her station and Archer stumbling into his chair. The view screen showed a ship Archer didn't recognize.

"Hull plating at sixty percent, Captain," Malcolm reported.

"Return fire."

_Enterprise_ was hit several times before Malcolm reported, "Their engines are disabled, Captain."

"Warp five, Travis," Archer ordered.

_Enterprise_ leapt to warp, leaving the attacking ship behind.

"What happened, Malcolm?"

"They hailed us, said they were the Shogefi, and that we had an object that belonged to them. I told them they must speak to you and they opened fire."

"Hoshi, go back to the loading bay and work on translating that device's language."

"Yes, sir." Hoshi left the bridge.

Archer sat down, debating what to do if the Shogefi pursued.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

'_You said you'd hand it over_,' someone said. '_You promised her_.'

Archer was startled out of his trance by the remark. He was standing before a viewport in his ready room and realized he didn't know how long he'd been standing there. Or even what had been on his mind before the interruption. Archer turned, expecting to find the person in the room, but he was alone. He looked at his companel when it beeped.

"Archer."

"Sir, there's an Ambassador Sevyk asking to speak to you," a crewman told him.

"A Shogefi?"

"No, sir. Vulcan."

Archer sat down in his desk chair. "Put him through."

A stately Vulcan wearing dignitary robes appeared on Archer's screen. He bore an uncanny resemblance to V'Las, causing Archer to subconsciously go on the defense.

"I'm Capt--" Archer began.

"I know who you are. The Vulcan High Command detected a transmission in the area you are currently in from a religious device that belongs to us,"

Archer's hackles flew up. "We haven't picked up anything that looked like it belonged to Vulcans. My _Vulcan_ science officer would have said something if we had."

"Unless she was a priestess, she wouldn't recognize it."

"What's this device look like?"

"It is a silver metallic sphere with markings along the surface and would have been traveling at warp one."

"That sounds unique. What is it, exactly?"

"That's none of your concern."

"We did run across something like the one you described a couple of days ago, but it was destroyed."

"You fired upon it?"

"No. We pulled it into a loading bay and it melted on its own. I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"You're welcome."

The transmission ended. Archer stood and walked out of his ready room into the loading bay. Archer was taken back for a moment, looking at the door. As the door closed he saw the hall, not his ready room. Archer shook off the displaced feeling, deciding he just didn't remember the walk to the loading bay.

The lights were back on and the device was still emitting a holographic image of the Andromeda system. T'Pol and Hoshi were standing next to the screen and controls, trying to decipher the language.

"How is it coming?" Archer asked.

"Not good," Hoshi answered.

Archer walked up to the sphere, touching it. It responded with a low hum, but nothing happened.

"A Vulcan ambassador, Ambassador Sevyk, just contacted me, T'Pol. He said this is a religious relic and unless you were a priestess you wouldn't know anything about it."

"I am familiar with millions of religious relics." T'Pol pulled her hands behind her back. "And I have never seen a religious relic that would compare to this device. You were being deceived, Captain."

"What did you tell him?" Hoshi asked.

"He identified the outer casing with the markings. I told him it melted. He said it was transmitting some sort of signal that they had picked up."

"We have not picked up any signals transmitting from the device since our initial contact, Captain."

"Why would this Ambass--

"Archer to the bridge," a crewman called on the ship's COM.

Archer walked over and tapped a companel by the door. "Go ahead."

"We are being hailed again by a Ferengi that calls himself the Grand Nagus. He wants to talk directly to you and he's being impatient, sir. And two more ships just showed up."

"I'm on my way, Ensign." Archer looked back at T'Pol and Hoshi. "Work faster, ladies. I have a feeling it's about to get very crowded in this sector." Archer hurried back to the bridge.

#

Archer leaned over on his legs, clasped his hands together and squeezed them down on the back of his neck. Travis and another crewman were the only other people on the bridge.

"Who's left, Ensign?" Archer asked the Ensign as he sat up.

"There's a Tellurite, three species I can't pronounce, and a Klingon Chancellor."

"Put them all on screen." Archer stood up, drawing himself into rigid composure.

"Admiral Forrest is hailing us."

"Put him through first," Archer said.

Admiral Forrest appeared on the view screen.

"I've just been informed you've refused to relinquish a religious Vulcan artifact and it has them fired up like we've never seen before," Admiral Forrest said.

Archer's composure wilted slightly. He looked at the ensign. "Is the channel secure?"

The man nodded.

"The Vulcans and at least six other races claim that the device we intercepted belongs to them and they all claim it's a religious relic. We don't know who the real owner of this thing is."

"Do you know what the device is?"

"Not yet, sir. So far all it's done is project a holograph of the Andromeda system and a screen full of changing data, if data is what is on the screen. Ensign Sato and T'Pol are working on it."

"Find out what it is before you hand it over to anyone, Jon. I'll throw a few rolls of red tape at the Vulcans to buy you some time. Report as soon as you know what it is."

"I will."

Forrest leaned into the screen. "Just promise me, Jonathan, that if it comes down to saving your ship and relinquishing that device, you choose your ship."

"I promise, sir."

The transmission ended.

"Two more races just showed up," the ensign informed him.

Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. "Address the Klingons before they fire up the others."

"Aye, sir."

The Klingon appeared on the view screen. "I've been waiting for over an hour!" he bellowed.

"How can I help you?"

"You have religious device that belongs to the Klingon High Council. We demand it returned immediately!"

Archer sighed before continuing the conversation.

#

Sleep was an elusive creature for the fifth night in a row and he was feeling the lack of it. Archer closed his eyes and tried counting sheep. That had helped once when he was a child. After reaching one thousand, he determined tonight wasn't going to be a second time. He rolled onto his side, staring at the dozens of ships outside his viewport. And all of their captains were demanding the same thing: the device. How did they know it was even on _Enterprise_? And with the advance technology some of them had, why hadn't any of them fired on _Enterprise_ or boarded his ship and simply taken the device? T'Pol hypothesized that they were afraid of the device, but she couldn't explain why – Archer wondered how much the not knowing bothered her.

Archer sat up against the headboard, looking down at Porthos. The Beagle was twisted into a U on his bed with his feet in the air. Every so often a leg would twitch as he dreamed. Archer smiled.

"What I wouldn't give to be you right now, Port," Archer murmured.

He closed his eyes, feeling sleep starting to creep up on him.

'_Jonathan_,' the man's voice whispered, '_Hey_!'

Archer's eyes popped open. He looked toward his bathroom. He'd left the light on tonight but there was no one standing in the door.

'_We should paint his nose_,' another man whispered back.

Laughter followed, not any louder than a whisper.

Archer sat straight up, his stomach tensing. "Who's there?"

No one replied. Archer dropped his head. His exhaustion and stress had begun playing with his mind. He got up, grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Archer headed for his door and stepped into the loading bay.

The bay was dark again with holographic stars hovering where he'd last left them. He saw someone sitting on the stairs and walked in their direction. From the light coming off the PADD in her hands, he identified the person as Hoshi. Archer sat down next to her.

"Can't sleep?" Hoshi asked.

"No."

Hoshi sighed, leaning on the railing and looking at the sphere. "I wonder why this thing doesn't like Vulcans."

"Did you ever get Doctor Phlox down here to see if it liked him?"

"He didn't have time today. He said maybe tomorrow. Sir, will you promise me something?"

Archer looked at her. "What?"

"Promise me you won't choose this device over us if it comes down to that. As curious as I am about it, I don't want to die for it."

"Who said anything about dying?"

"There's a lot of ships out there, armed and prepared to fire on us, Captain." Hoshi looked at him. "This thing isn't worth dying for."

"And what if I hand over a weapon to them?"

"Does _that_ look like a weapon?" Hoshi motioned at the star chart.

Archer stared at Hoshi for a long moment. He smiled. "I swear to you that my crew is more important than this device, Hoshi. I would never choose it over any of you. You have my word."

Hoshi got up and walked over to the device. Archer leaned against the railing beside him, his mind slowly drifting to other thoughts and slipping him into sleep.

#

Archer heard people whispering and his first thought was, '_I'm talking to Phlox about these auditory hallucinations!_'

Archer started to move but stopped when he heard T'Pol whisper, "Commander, it is not 'ghost juice.' Something must be powering this device."

Archer smiled. '_That's just T'Pol and Trip arguing again._'

"Fine, then you explain how it's powered without any kind of reading."

Archer opened his eyes when he heard footsteps come near. T'Pol crouched down to open a case, noticing he was awake.

"Good afternoon," she said.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"I came in at oh-seven-hundred and found you and Lieutenant Sato asleep on the stairs. We moved you both to the floor so you could sleep more comfortably."

"What time is it?"

"Fourteen hundred."

"I bet I have a crowd of angry aliens chomping at the bit to talk to me right now."

"Commander Tucker is handling them for you."

Archer sat up, looking around the loading bay. A bank of lights had been turned on and T'Pol was the only other person in the bay.

"He was just here, wasn't he?"

"He returned to the bridge." T'Pol retrieved an instrument and walked back to the sphere.

Archer heard someone mutter and looked toward it. Hoshi was in a sleeping bag behind him, her black hair the only thing he could see of her. Archer got up and walked over to the sphere. He gingerly reached out and touched it. The sphere hummed softly at his touch.

T'Pol appeared at Archer's side. "It does not appear to mind humans touching it."

"No it doesn't. We should get Phlox down here to touch it."

"I doubt Doctor Phlox wants to find out that it doesn't like Denobulans, speaking from personal experience."

"Call him anyway."

T'Pol turned to go to a companel and a red light started scanning Archer. Both of them froze. A holograph appeared beside Archer, speaking in the alien language and motioning to the red screen. Archer looked back at the metal ball.

"What do you think it's saying?"

Word for word the holograph repeated Archer. Archer looked at the holograph.

Behind him Hoshi pushed the sleeping bag down, staring at the two Archers.

"Do you understand me?" Archer asked the sphere.

The holograph spoke in the alien language and then repeated Archer's phrase.

"It's talking?" Hoshi scrambled out of the sleeping bag and trotted over to Archer.

The holograph spoke in the alien language and then repeated Hoshi's question. A blue light scanned Hoshi's face and the holograph changed to Hoshi. Hoshi walked over to the holograph, circling it. She reached out to touch it and her hand passed through it, causing the image to waver. Hoshi picked up a translator.

"My name is Hoshi."

The holograph repeated the phrase in the alien language and then in English.

"What is your designation?" Hoshi asked.

It again repeated her question and followed it with more alien language.

"Got it!" Hoshi said, smiling. She tapped the translator. "What is your designation?"

"Designation of this device is classified," the holograph replied.

"Who designated information about this device as classified?"

"Science executive XR-4534."

"How can we contact this science executive?"

"Unable to provide that information."

"Why?"

"Science executive XR-4534 was terminated from the program."

"On what grounds?"

"Ceasing to exist."

"He died?"

"Please rephrase your question."

"Is there information about this science executive's existence in your database?"

"Negative."

"Do you have any information that is unclassified about your mission?"

"Affirmative."

"List the information."

A list appeared on the holographic panel next to the holographic and scrolled for several seconds. As it did, the audio translated the names of thousands of solar systems, only a handful of which were familiar to the three.

"That's a long list," Archer commented.

"Trip to Archer," Trip said.

"A really long list," Hoshi replied. "It's going to take me a while to translate this, sir."

Archer walked over to a companel and tapped it. "Go ahead."

"Sir, report to the bridge. The Shogefi have returned and they're demanding we release that sphere or they're going to destroy us."

"They're bluffing."

"Cap'n, they just armed all weapons and brought up shields. I'm not so sure they're bluffing."

"I'll be right there." Archer turned to Hoshi. "Can you--"

_Enterprise_ rocked.

"ALL HANDS TO STATIONS!" Trip yelled over the ship COM.

Archer fell against the wall when _Enterprise_ rocked again. He pushed away and ran over to the sphere. As he grabbed it the display disappeared and the cover over the controls slid shut. Archer turned toward the door, running into a Shogefi. Archer's eyes traveled up to its head that was at least seven centimeters above Archer. The alien stood on two powerful legs and held a large gun in its arms. It had a sledgehammer shaped head and four sets of yellow eyes. Its skin was brown and when it spoke it sounded similar to a dolphin, but the tone was malice. It held out a four-fingered hand for the device.

Archer stepped back, running into another alien. He looked around him, finding Shogefi had filled the loading bay.

"Give it to him!" Hoshi said.

A Shogefi had Hoshi and T'Pol pinned against the wall by the throat.

"Give me the device," the Shogefi ordered.

Archer looked up at the one towering over him. How had it learned their language so fast?

"How do I know it's yours?" Archer asked.

"You don't even know what it is. It is of no use to you."

"I know what it isn't."

"And you will take it apart to find out what it is?"

"It was telling us what it was. We were communicating with it."

"It belongs to us."

"If it belongs to you, then why don't you have it?"

"GIVE IT TO ME!" the alien bellowed.

Archer held the sphere more protectively when the alien grabbed for it.

"Captain, please," Archer heard Hoshi whimper. "You promised."

He looked at her. The Shogefi was strangling her. Archer looked at the device.

'_There is so much we could learn from this, but what is that knowledge really worth_?'

Archer held the device out. The Shogefi snatched it from him and then leaned down, turning his head so one eye peered at Archer. The blackness of his eye was deep and there was no reflection. Archer fought his fear to stand his ground.

"Wisdom isn't always doing what your heart tells you, Jonnie. It's doing what you _know_ is right."

Archer caught his breath. When he had just entered Starfleet he had to make a decision of keeping his friends, or reporting students drinking excessively while on the Academy grounds. His father's nugget of wisdom had guided him through the situation, and in the end, his commander was the only one that suspected him of reporting the incident and respected Archer for it. But no one ever knew his father had told him those exact words. And only T'Pol knew the nickname his parents called him. How did this alien know any of that?

The Shogefi suddenly transported off _Enterprise_, leaving Archer confused.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Archer tossed and turned in his sleep.

'_Captain, would ya _wake up_ already_!' the man's voice whispered.

He jerked awake with a gasp. With a heavy sigh he sat up on the edge of his bed. He heard a movement and lifted his head. There was a black void in his dark bathroom door. From the shadows, a human hand extended, holding the sphere. As if melting from the darkness, his father stepped into the dim light of Archer's room. Archer nearly fell off the bed as he scrambled to his feet.

"Dad?"

Henry Archer smiled.

"How are you, son?"

Archer's brow furrowed. "I'm good, dad."

Henry held the sphere up for Archer to see, and then balanced it in the center of his palm.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"I think it's a star chart database."

"It's much more than that, son. It was created for two purposes: retrieve information and seek out species ready for first contact. Its creators have been sending them into space even before Vulcans developed warp technology. The one you are about to discover is thousands of years old and has accumulated more data on humans than can be processed in a life time." Henry cupped the sphere in both hands.

"What race created it?"

"They're called the Destini. Talk to Phlox about them."

"Phlox?"

Henry nodded. "They have been receiving data from the Destini for a hundred years and he will lend you amazing insight. Now that you've passed the test, it wants to give you its database, but you have to wake up."

"I'm not asleep."

Henry smiled. "Aren't you son?"

Henry suddenly stood right in front of Archer. He held the sphere in front of Archer's eyes.

"Wake up, Jonnie."

Archer couldn't tear his eyes from the sphere. He saw the bridge in the distorted reflection but he couldn't tell who was who from the curved images. He saw no reflection of himself or his quarters.

"Wake up, Jonnie."

Archer reached out to take the sphere from his father.

"Cap'n," Trip's voice said, "Would you wake up already or Malcolm's going to paint your nose!"

Archer turned toward the voice...

#

Archer opened his eyes. His cheek rested on his hand, propped up on the arm of his chair. He heard beeping and looked down. The document he'd been reading on the PADD had reached the end and was softly beeping to indicate it couldn't scroll any further. Archer looked around him. T'Pol was the only person not trying to stifle laughter. Archer shifted in his chair, masking his embarrassment.

"Long night," he explained, lifting his finger off the PADD.

Hoshi turned, pressing her earpiece. Archer's heart leapt into his throat. Was it?

"Sir, I'm picking up a signal," she reported.

Archer sat up in his chair. "Three recurring tones within three quarters of a light year from us?"

Hoshi's brow furrowed. "Yeah. How did--"

"Pinpoint its location and give the coordinates to Travis."

Hoshi obeyed.

Travis looked at a monitor. "Sir, this is going to be--"

Archer finished, "Like trying to follow something the size of a basketball in the middle of the Atlantic from space. I know. I'll just call you the Chaser, Travis, and I do want to borrow the books sometime."

Travis looked back at Archer, grinning. "Aye, sir."

Archer kept his eyes on the view screen. The sphere came into view and _Enterprise_ matched its speed.

"Are you getting any readings from it, T'Pol?"

"No, Captain."

"Hoshi, open a channel."

"On what frequency?"

"Pick one."

Hoshi obeyed. She looked surprised. "The tones changed and it's matching the channel frequency. Now what?"

"Now we wait."

"The sphere is stopping," T'Pol said.

"Full halt," Archer ordered.

_Enterprise_ stopped. The sphere moved close to _Enterprise_. A small opening appeared near the vent.

"I'm receiving a signal."

"What language?"

"Binary. The computer is translating it. It's asking if we're prepared to receive data, sir."

"When you're ready, confirm."

Hoshi worked the controls and replied. The view screen changed to show flashing images and data.

"What's happening?" Archer asked.

"It's transmitting data faster than I've ever seen."

"Is the computer keeping up?"

"Yes. It's restricting the data flow so it can keep up."

"What--" Archer stopped when the view screen froze on an image of his father.

He drifted to his feet, staring at it. It was a picture taken during his father's first speech on the warp drive. He was standing in the background, a young man in his late teens. The image magnified until his face was the only face in the screen and then suddenly disappeared. The view screen changed back to space, showing the sphere. The opening snapped closed and the sphere flew off at warp one.

"Captain, this is a lot of data! It's going to take the computer a few days to categorize and sort this information."

Archer smiled. "It's humanity's entire history, as an alien race saw it."

They all looked at him. Archer smiled at Hoshi.

"Once it's done, Hoshi, organize a team to help you go through the information. I have a feeling that it should keep you busy for, oh, a few years."

"Years?"

Archer nodded, looking back at the view screen. The object had already disappeared.

"And then some," Archer quietly added.

#

Archer looked up when the door of the Captain's mess opened, watching Phlox enter.

"Good morning, Captain," Phlox said, smiling. "Thank you for inviting me to breakfast."

"You're welcome."

Archer motioned to the chair opposite him and Phlox sat down. A steward entered, setting their plates down.

"I had an ulterior motive for inviting you to breakfast, Doc."

"Oh?"

"I was told..." Archer smiled, looking down. "If telling is what you can call it, to ask you about the Destini."

Phlox didn't reply. Archer looked at him. The shocked look on his face was a surprise for Archer. Phlox suddenly beamed.

"Which test did the Destini Gatherer give you? Did you have to give your life for a crewmember? Give up something you valued? Save the life of a stranger?"

It was Archer's turn to be surprised. He pushed his plate aside, leaning on the table.

"We found the sphere, and just when I found out it held every star chart of the galaxy, if not the universe, I had to give it up to save my crew."

"When Denobulans were first contacted, the Captain they reached had to choose between the life of many, or of a wife he loved very much. He chose his wife. That was nearly--"

"A hundred years," Archer and Phlox said together.

Phlox's smile softened. "Welcome, ally."

"Thank you. Tell me about the Destini. Will we ever meet them?"

"Perhaps. They are a fascinating race." Phlox ate a bite of breakfast before he began telling Archer about humanities new ally.


End file.
